The present invention relates to a device for automating and/or controlling machine tools or production machines, and more particularly to a device that allows control of the machine tools or production machines from a remote computer.
Great progress has been made over the past years to exchange data directly between a supervisory computer and machine tools or production machines, wherein production machines also include robots. In order to achieve a high productivity, the machines must include a certain level of intelligence. Productivity can be increased by incorporating suitable automation and control technique. Whereas previously central systems were employed, decentralized systems have begun to dominate whereby an automation and control system residing in each machine is connected via a bus system with the various components of that machine. Productivity can be further increased by using communication devices that connect the machines with each other and with a control system.
A system of the aforedescribed type is shown in “NC-CNC Handbook”, Hans B, Kief, 1995/96, Karl Hansa-Verlag, Munich, Vienna, pp. 416 ff. The term DNC used therein refers to an operating mode wherein several NC/CNC machines and/or production machines are connected with a common central computer. According to the DNC concept practiced today, all the control functions of the individual machines are computed entirely on the internal hardware of the respective machine. In earlier DNC systems, each machine performs a core control function, with the central computer preparing or preprocessing the data used by the core control.
It would therefore be desirable and advantageous to provide a simple and cost-effective device for improving the automation and/or control functionality of machine tools or production machines.